Tamperproof hook and eye



p 1947- N. R. scHwARTz 6,

TAMPER-PROOF HOOK AND EYE Filed June 23, 1943 Patented Sept. 2, 1947 TAMPERPROOF HOOK AND EYE Nathan Rodney Schwartz, Brooklyn, N. Y., as-

signor to Saran Research Corporation Application June 23, 1943, Serial No. 492,170

1 Claim.

This invention refers to hook and eye closures and more particularly to means for preventing the unauthorized disengagement of a hook from an eye.

Hook and eye closin mean are frequently employed to close screen doors, shower room doors, locker room doors, lavatory doors, window screens and similar entrances from within. It has been found however that these locking means are not at all secure, since a recess remains between the member to which the hook is secured and the member to which the eye is secured. It is relatively simple for a person seeking unauthorized entrance to a premises so locked, to place a knife or other'sharp instrument into the recess below the hook, and by moving the knife or other instrument upward, to disengage the hook from the eye.

With this in view, it is the main purpose of the present invention to provide a conventional hook of this character with slidable locking means to prevent its disengagement from its eye, when such disengagement is not desired.

A further feature of the present invention is to provide a slidable latch fora hook, which, when in operative position, will prevent its disengagement from its eye.

Another aim of the present invention resides in the provision of a slidable sleeve for a hook, the sleeve having an integrally formed finger grip for easy manipulation.

And still another advantage of the present invention lies in the provision of a tamper-proof attachment for a hook, made from a unitary piece of material.

And yet another aim of this invention resides in the provision of a tamper-proof attachment for a hook, which is inexpensive to manufacture, yet highly eflicient in operation,

These and other meritorious objects and advantages, which will become more fully apparent as the description hereof proceeds, are accomplished by the novel construction, combination and arrangement of few and simple parts, hereinafter described and illustrated in the accompanying drawing, forming a material component of this disclosure, and in which:

Figure 1 is a front elevational view of a conventional hook and eye, provided with the tamper-proof attachment of the present invention, the device being shown in locked position.

Figure 2 is a sectional view, the section being taken on Figure 1, lines 2-2 thereof.

Figure 3 is a perspective view of a hook, provided with the tamper-proof attachment of the present invention, the attachment being shown in inoperative or unlocked position.

Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view of the device, the section being taken on line 4-4 of Figure 3.

Referring in greater detail to the drawing, numeral l0 designates in general the shank of a hook, one end of which is turned upon itself, as at H, to form a circular retaining member for a screw eye l3 the circular head of which is retained in circular member ll, its screw end l2 being free to be imbedded into a support M, such as a door.

The other end of shank I0, is curved upwardly as at H) and then downwardly as at I6 to form a point or bill.

To form a locking means, there is provided an eye having a circular head I! terminating at its other end in a screw l8 which may be imbedded in a mating support I9 such as a door frame. These elements are conventional and in themselves form no part of the present invention.

The latch of the present invention is made from a unitary piece of material, such as metal or other suitable material. The material used is a narrow, rectangular piece its width being such that, when it is bent to form a sleeve, the diameter thereof will be very slightly in excess of the diameter of the shank of a conventional hook. Sleeve member 20 is so applied upon shank I0, that the lateral edges of said sleeve member meet at the underside of said shank I0.

At the center of the latch, a tongue is formed by providing slits in the material, which extend from the outer edge rearwardly to substantially midway the length of said latch. This tongue, when the latch is applied upon a hook, is turned upwardly to form a finger-grip 24 as is illustrated in the drawing.

The device i assembled by turning the rear portion of the material from which the latch is made, from the rear end to the point where the slits in the material begin, about shank Ill. The front portion of the material, from the front edge to the end of the slits will thu form two parallel fork members 2! and 22, the said fork members being created by the provision of said finger-grip 24. Thi too is clearly illustrated in the drawing. The length of sleeve member 20 including the forked parallel members 2| and 22 is equal to the length of the shank of a hook from its upturned front IE to the beginning of the rounded end portion I I of shank 10.

In its application, rounded sleeve member 20 will embrace shank III at substantially its rear half. Finger grip 24 will be positioned upon the upper surface of shank l0, and forked members 2| and 22 will be positioned at the front half of shank I when the device is in an inoperative position.

In operation, after bill l6 has been engaged in eye l1, sleeve member 20 is manually moved forward upon shank I0 by manipulating fingergrip 24 in a conventional manner. Forward movement of the sleeve member 20 upon shank. 10 will be checked at the point of contact between finger grip 24 and upturn H5 at the front of shank l0. As is illustrated in Figure 1, fork members 2| and 22 will lie immediately below eye I1 mak ing it impossible to withdraw bill I6 from eye I! until the sleeve member is moved back upon shank ID to assume the position illustrated in Figure 3, whereupon disengagement is possible.

Thus it will be seen that there has here been disclosed a very simple yet highly eificient tamperproof attachment for a conventional hook and eye in the preferred embodiment. It is to be understood however that this disclosure is to-be regarded as illustrative and descriptive and not as limitative or restrictive to the exact details shown, applicant reserving the right tomake such minor changes in the construction ofthis device as may come withinthe scope of' the appended claim without thereby departing from the spirit of the present invention. 7

Having thus described. the invention, what is claimed as new and desired to secure by Letters Patent, is: V

.A latch for a hook adapted to engage an eye, saidhook comprising a. shank formed into a loop at its rear and into a bill at its front, a sleeve member slidably mounted on said shank, said I sleeve memberpartially divided into three longitudinal sections, said sections extending rearwardl'y on said sleeve member from the outer edge 1 thereof to substantially half the lengthof said sleeve member, the outer two of said sections adapted to engage said bill when the latch is in locked position, and the section between said slits forming a tongue turned upwardly to constitute a finger grip.

NATHAN RODNEY SCHWARTZ.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent UNITED STATES. PA'I'ENTS Number Name Date 720,673 Collins Feb. 17, 1903- 812,879 Rice '1 Feb; 20; 1906 1,790,765 Prow Feb, 3, 1931 1,874,632 Sanon Aug, 30, 1932' 2,117,159

Giardina et a1. May 10; 1938: 

